Grading the Golden State Warriors' Trade Deadline Performance
The Golden State Warriors decided to stay pat at the trade deadline, a decision which shocked no one. When you're on pace for your second straight 70-win season, you're not feeling the pressure to make a change.
This offseason many—including head coach Steve Kerr and general manager Bob Myers—thought they might need to fill some holes before the deadline, but things fit better than expected.
Kevin Jones of KNBR reported:
"At the time in a radio interview, Myers speculated he would have to make a trade or two to sort out any kinks. Kerr himself was non committal (sic) on how the first portion of the season was going to play out. The Miami Heat super team started out 10-9 in 2010. The Spurs blew the Warriors out on Night 1, further adding to some internal anxiety.
And then games kept happening and there weren’t any major kinks. At all. There was no panic button for Myers to push. Fears of cohesion problems with Kevin Durant now in the fold were completely over exaggerated. The Warriors look and felt like the same high-flying trapeze artists but were setting records for assists and efficiency.
"
According to NBA.com, the Warriors have the best offensive rating in the NBA and the second-best defense. The adage "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" comes to mind.
There were, however, moves that other teams made which affect Golden State, either directly or indirectly.
As the Warriors didn't do anything—and accordingly there's not much to grade them on—I assessed how much other teams' moves impact the Dubs. Higher grades mean said moves are more beneficial to Golden State, while good moves for other teams have lower grades.
I listed them in order of when the teams might face the Warriors in the postseason.
1. The Potential for a DeMarcus Cousins Effect
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The DeMarcus Cousins trade to the New Orleans Pelicans could haunt the Warriors in the postseason. The combination of the 26-year-old and Anthony Davis make them the fiercest paint tandem since David Robinson and Tim Duncan were running the court together in San Antonio.
The Pels are three games behind the Denver Nuggets in the loss column. With 25 games left, it's not impossible they could close the ground, particularly considering the diminished stature of the Western Conference from the No. 8 seed on down.
That could portend a first-round series between Golden State and New Orleans, which could be a harder fight than the Warriors want.
As Michael Erler of FanRag.com noted, there's a certain commonality to many of the Warriors' losses:
"Whether the Davis-Cousins partnership can even stay on the floor together against the Dubs' phalanx of spacers and shooters has yet to be established, but it's no secret that Golden State has struggled against teams with athletic, dominant bigs.
They've lost twice to Memphis, who have Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph, they dropped a game at Miami with Hassan Whiteside, lost to Cousins at Sacramento, to the Spurs on opening night with LaMarcus Aldridge and Pau Gasol, and most recently to Denver with wunderkind Nikola Jokic.
"
While it's doubtful that the NBA's new version of a Twin Towers would beat the Dubs in a seven-game series, there's legitimate cause for concern that they could beat on them, wearing Golden State's players down in the first round.
Grade: C-
2. Los Angeles Clippers Stand Pat
2 of 5
The Clippers did nothing at the trade deadline, and that is great news for Golden State.
It's true the Warriors have been manhandling the Clippers during the Steve Kerr era, winning 10 of 11 games, with an average margin of victory of 11 points, according to Basketball-Reference.com.
But the Clippers have a brilliant starting five. The quintet of Chris Paul, J.J. Redick, Luc Mbah a Moute, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan has a net rating of plus-16.2, which is the highest non-Warriors lineup with at least 200 minutes.
The Clippers' bench has been about as deep as a CBS sitcom over the last few years. While Austin Rivers has evolved into a legitimate backup point guard, the rest of the bench is awful, yet again. While the Warriors bench is plus-2.2 on the season, the Clippers are minus-1.1.
Without improving there, LA has little chance of turning around their woes against Golden State in a seven-game series.
In this case, no news is good news for the Warriors.
Grade: A
3. The Rockets Became a Much Bigger Threat
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There is only one team in the league that can compete with the Warriors when it comes to pure offensive ability, and that's the Houston Rockets, who are second to Golden State in offensive rating, according to NBA.com.
The Warriors' lead is substantial, though. They score 2.7 more points per 100 possessions—that's equal to the difference between the Rockets and the eighth-place Denver Nuggets.
But now the Rockets have acquired Lou Williams, and that could help them close the gap. Williams and current Rockets guard Eric Gordon are first and second in points off the bench, per Basketball-Refence.com.
Houston also now has five of the top 17 players in made threes.
Williams gives them another guy who can dominate a stretch of a game, who can create his own shot, and who can fill in if Gordon gets hurt or if both Gordon and Harden go cold.
In addition to the Williams move, the Rockets traded away Tyler Ennis to the Lakers for Marcelo Huertas and gave K.J. McDaniels to the Brooklyn Nets.
If the teams meet in the postseason, it will most likely be in the Western Conference finals, what with the current seeding for both teams looking static. In a full-blown, defense-be-damned series, Houston is now a legitimate threat (though, not a favorite).
Grade: D
4. The Changes in the East Help the Warriors
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There were several moves in the East that have an indirect and less obvious impact on Golden State.
The Toronto Raptors acquired power forward Serge Ibaka before the All-Star Break and small forward P.J. Tucker at the deadline, per Wojnarowski. The Washington Wizards landed shooting swingman Bojan Bogdanovic from the Brooklyn Nets. The Atlanta Hawks obtained stretch-4 Ersan Ilyasova in a trade with the Philadelphia 76ers, per Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com.
These moves come in line with the Cleveland Cavaliers announcing that Kevin Love will be out six weeks after surgery on his left knee. That means LeBron James will likely play even heavier minutes than he already was—he's second in the league in minutes per game at 37.5.
All of this could matter if the Dubs and Cavs meet in the finals again. Last year, an understated aspect of the Cavaliers' comeback from a 1-3 deficit is that they were just fresher. They played 14 playoff games coming into the finals. By comparison, the Warriors logged 17.
Three extra games matter, as do all those extra minutes James will play in the regular season.
If the road to the finals gets harder for the Cavs, the Warriors have a better chance of sealing the deal this time.
Grade: B+
5. Keeping Bob Myers Was the Biggest Move
5 of 5
Probably the best news is the story that never happened.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of the Vertical, the Los Angeles Lakers were hoping to court Golden State GM Bob Myers but gave up on the endeavor.
The Lakers are following the model of the Golden State Warriors, who hired former agent Myers as general manager. He's had a spectacular run, and prior to the overhaul of the Lakers' front office, he was Los Angeles' top target for GM, league sources said.
But the Lakers didn't have confidence that Myers would be willing to push for his Warriors exit—especially after a new contract extension—to join them, league sources said.
Myers has deftly and brilliantly navigated the team during his tenure. His decisions include drafting Draymond Green, trading for Andre Iguodala, hiring Kerr, signing Shaun Livingston and making the moves needed to bring Kevin Durant on board. The move he was wise enough not to make—trading Klay Thompson for Kevin Love—might have been the best decision of all.
Retaining him is the best news the Warriors have at the deadline, even if Myers leaving wasn't a realistic possibility.
Grade: A
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